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Hibuese: Difference between revisions
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It is a right-branching, strongly isolating language, notable for its largely oligoanalytic lexicon, its complete lack of verbs other than the non-inflecting copula '''''i''''', and the lack of any contrastive voicing, with all phonemes except /h/ being voiced. | It is a right-branching, strongly isolating language, notable for its largely oligoanalytic lexicon, its complete lack of verbs other than the non-inflecting copula '''''i''''', and the lack of any contrastive voicing, with all phonemes except /h/ being voiced. | ||
The lexicon is made up entirely of around 190 syllabic roots with a single basic meaning and these are combined in various ways to make more precise meanings | The lexicon is made up entirely of around 190 syllabic roots with a single basic meaning and these are combined in various ways to make more precise meanings. | ||
== Name == | == Name == | ||
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==Word classes== | ==Word classes== | ||
===Nouns=== | ===Nouns=== | ||
Nouns in Hibuese are entirely uninflected and have only one form each, with no changes for number (plural or singular) or, with few exceptions, case. They may comprise a single monosyllabic root or be a compound of two or more noun roots together. | Nouns in Hibuese are entirely uninflected and have only one form each, with no changes for number (plural or singular) or, with few exceptions, case. They may comprise a single monosyllabic root or be a compound of two or more noun roots together. For example, the root '''''zwa''''' has the core meaning of 'water' but may, when qualified by other roots, refer to other liquids. '''''Ni''''' means, as its central meaning, 'air' or 'gas' but may also mean 'quality' or 'characteristic' (much as the word 'air'does in English as in 'an air of superiority') or simply anything that is invisible. Together these roots may be combined to form '''''zwani''''' 'rain' (a type of water defined by something to do with air, namely that it falls from it) or '''''nizwa''''' 'cloud, fog, mist' (a type of air defined by something to do with water, namely that it is filled with it). | ||
Nouns make up the equivalent of most other parts of speech found in other languages. For example, instead of a class of verbs, Hibuese uses agent nouns with a copula particle. Thus, instead of saying "I '''write''' a book" with verb equivalent to 'write', the equivalent sentence is syntactically equivalent to the sentence "I '''am a writer of''' a book." Words such as "writer" or "one who knows" are glossed here as "write.<small>AG</small>" and "know.<small>AG</small>", with "<small>AG</small>" standing for "agent". The equivalent of adjectives are glossed with "<small>E</small>" standing for "entity", for example "small.<small>E</small>" is the gloss for a noun meaning "small entity" (i.e. small person or thing). | Nouns make up the equivalent of most other parts of speech found in other languages. For example, instead of a class of verbs, Hibuese uses agent nouns with a copula particle. Thus, instead of saying "I '''write''' a book" with verb equivalent to 'write', the equivalent sentence is syntactically equivalent to the sentence "I '''am a writer of''' a book." Words such as "writer" or "one who knows" are glossed here as "write.<small>AG</small>" and "know.<small>AG</small>", with "<small>AG</small>" standing for "agent". The equivalent of adjectives are glossed with "<small>E</small>" standing for "entity", for example "small.<small>E</small>" is the gloss for a noun meaning "small entity" (i.e. small person or thing). | ||